How did that fish get up here in the mountains?

How did fish get up into the mountains? Was there an earthquake and the mountains raised up and the fishies went with them in little pools of water? Or was it a water spout that sucked 'em up and dropped 'em off?

-- Carlos, the net

You've obviously given this a lot of thought, Carlos. If you're a regular visitor to Aliceland I'm not sure how you managed to think so clearly, but you're kind of on the right track. Actually, fish mostly get to mountain lakes by swimming there. Lakes don't usually sit in isolation. There are rivers or waterways in and out, and the fish can just swim to their new home from their old one. But waterspouts have moved fish and fish eggs from one place to another. Earthquakes do shift bodies of water. Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee was created from a bend in the Mississippi River during a very big earthquake centered in nearby Missouri. And dry lakes can fill again with water, releasing fish and eggs that might have survived in muddy patches.